CHED Caraga Regional Office employees at HEDC Building, CSU Campus, Ampayon, Butuan City participated the conduct of the 1st Quarter CY-2021 Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED) on March 11, 2021 spearheaded by the National Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)
The activity aimed to promote family earthquake preparedness towards community resilience. Based on the NDRRMC Memorandum No. 71, s. 2020, Interim Guidelines on the Conduct of the Nationwide Simultaneous Earthquake Drill (NSED), the traditional forms of exercises with physical interaction like the evacuation drills are prohibited. Hence, public health standards were observed during the earthquake drill amidst the pandemic situation. CHED Caraga employees only performed the duck, cover, and hold drill exercise at their respective places since evacuating could create a mass gathering.
Having been regularly conducting the exercise, this has been CHED Caraga employees’ first time to incompletely perform the exercise outside the vicinity due to the observance of minimum health standards. During the drill, the employees were not only taught to stay calm but also to follow health
protocols as well when earthquake occurs.
NDRRMC has only one goal for the conduct of this nationwide drill and it is for us to be always prepared and safe in case of earthquake. CHED Caraga sees the importance of this initiative as it has always been preparing its employees with the consideration that its location is partly included in the path of Philippine fault line that transects the whole Philippine archipelago from Northeastern Luzon to Southeastern Mindanao. Although an existing fault line along Ampayon and Agusan del Sur also exists, inactive, and has no recorded history of significant tremors, it still puts Caraga Region at risk.